How AHEC Makes a Difference

Indiana Area Health Education Centers Network

A healthy Indiana requires health care professionals located in all areas of the state—from inner city neighborhoods to rural communities—available and prepared to educate citizens about health problems and issues and to provide quality service. Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) help to provide communities with this critical resource.

An AHEC is a network of regional centers that are coordinated through a central program office. Today, 54 AHEC programs with more than 200 centers operate in almost every state and the District of Columbia. Each regional center is locally grown to assess and meet the needs of citizens in that specific region.

To utilize a comprehensive community-based education approach to improve the skills and competences of health professions students skills and competencies necessary to enhance the quality of health care and provide transformative team-based care delivery within rural and underserved areas and populations.

Program Leadership

Regional Centers

The Indiana AHEC Network office is located within the Department of Family Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. The Indiana AHEC Network is comprised of eight regional centers, who work to serve the needs of their communities by providing pipeline programming, clinical rotations in rural and underserved areas, and continuing education opportunities to practicing health professionals.

AHEC Scholars

The AHEC Scholars program will prepare students entering the health professions workforce. AHEC Scholars is designed specifically for applicants who have a strong interest in providing care to those living in rural and medically underserved communities across Indiana in positions such as physicians, physician assistants, nurses, public health practitioners, respiratory therapists, physical therapists and other allied health occupations.

AHEC Scholars offers online learning units and community-based experiences designed to give health professions students a deeper understanding of rural and urban healthcare, caring for underserved populations and the importance of practice transformation in a clinical care setting. Fellows will focus on five core issues – behavioral health integration, cultural competency, interprofessional education, practice transformation and social determinants of health. For more information about the AHEC Scholars program contact ahec@iupui.edu.

IU School of Medicine | Department of Family Medicine | Indiana Area Health Education Centers Network

About

IU School of Medicine is the largest medical school in the US and is annually ranked among the top medical schools in the nation by US News & World Report. The school offers high-quality medical education, access to leading medical research and rich campus life in nine Indiana cities, including rural and urban locations consistently recognized for livability.